Original Article

Clinical Study of Neonatal Tetanus (1967~1977)

Chul Kyu Kim
Author Information & Copyright
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
Corresponding author: Chul-Kyu Kim. Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.

Copyright ⓒ 1978. Ewha Womans University School of Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Jul 24, 2015

Abstract

Author reviewed the experience with 50 cases seen at the Ewha Womans University Hospital in Seoul between January 1967 and December 1977, with an overal mortality of 50.0% from the disease. The average number of patients in the annual incidence was 4~5 cases, which was 0.8% of the total admitted patients of pediatrics in our hospital. Monthly distribution revealed as the highest in summer (42.0%) and the male to female ratio was 3.2:1. Compared with Seoul and the rural area of its outbreak, there was a significantly higher in Seoul (82.0%) than in the rural area(18.0%). Neonatal tetanus was a serious problem in some areas of our country where modern aseptic techniques were not employed. And the umbilical contamination by the dirty scissor was the highest source of infection (66.0%). Seventy-two percent of 50 cases was delivered in the contaminated environment. The incubation period was extremely variable but the usual range was 5 to 7 days(36cases). A short incubation (less than 10 days) was associated with a higher mortality rate (55.6%) than the incubation period over than 10 days with a mortality of 14.3%. The most common chief complaint on admission was the stop sucking (86.0%). The others were convulsion(62.0%), trismus (32.0%), fever (30.0%), irritability(18.0%), spasticity(16.0%) in orders. There was a significant correlation between fever and the outcome. The cases who were mild degree in the temperature(37°~37°9'C) had a better chance of recovery (62.5%). The mean hospital day in the improved cases was 21 days. The percentage of the beginning of the sucking ability within 1 to 2 weeks after the onset of the disease was high as 56.0%. The sucking power was normalized within the 4 weeks after the onset of the desease in all of the improved cases.